You're (Probably) Killing Your Fruit Trees | Winter Pruning

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Check out Daniel’s KZbin Channel HERE! @BeYourOwnArborist
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0:00 Intro
1:10 Evaluating the growth
4:53 3 types of cuts
7:16 Cutting the tree
8:23 Let's talk about tree structure
12:10 a word from our sponsor
13:32 Why are we not propagating?
14:59 The return of "the stake"
16:44 "lion tailing"
19:34 Be led by "principles"
21:10 Let's talk about safety
22:48 Where do we go from here?
23:48 The plum tree
MORE ABOUT ME
I'm Anne of All Trades. In NASHVILLE, I have a woodworking, blacksmithing and fabrication shop, a selection of furry friends, and an organic farm. Whether you've got the knowledge, tools, time or space to do the things you've always wanted to do, everything is "figureoutable."
I became "Anne of All Trades" out of necessity. With no background in farming or making things, I wanted to learn to raise my own food, fix things when they break and build the things I need.
8 years ago I got my first pet, planted my first seed and picked up my first tool.
My goal is to learn and share traditional techniques and skills while showing my peers how to get from where they are to where they want to go, how to do the things they are passionate about, and what can be done TODAY to engage their own community and grow deep roots.
Whether it's carving spoons, making my own hand tools, restoring my antique truck or growing heirloom tomatoes, the farm and workshop definitely keep me busy and support - whether financially through Patreon, through shopping my affiliate links, through buying merchandise, plans or project videos, or even just liking, commenting, and sharing my content with others helps me GREATLY to keep producing quality content to share.
Get a better roadmap of how to grow deep roots and live the life you want by subscribing to this channel and be sure to check out my blog for even more info anneofalltrades.com
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[@BackToGaia]

He is so skilled and well articulated, I'm blown away! And for free? Heck yeah! Content like this is extraordinary but rare. Much appreciation to both of you for adding value on a platform like this and making it easily accessible to others!

[@nate2838]

I love this collaboration you guys have. He brings the technical knowledge expressed in a simple way, and you bring the common questions and thought process many people who are learning would have which is a great combination. And you both love what you are doing :)

[@dudeusmaximus6793]

Taught myself how to prune years ago by downloading and reading every extension office publication I could find, and by darn I've mostly been doing it right. Thanks for the instructionals..

[@heidiwheeler9917]

"this is literally my whole fruit tree... but okay, it's good, it's fine.." bahahaha!!! I would have DIED! I wonder if you can graft that onto rootstock and have another mature peach tree LOL

[@ayrplanes]

My dad said a whole dead chicken was by far the best fertilizer he ever tried for his fruit trees. He said a dead fish and a dead cat(natural causes) did little but the chicken fed cherry tree went crazy with growth.

[@phoebeel]

But it needs to be a chicken from your own or your neighbours garden, right? It wouldn't help if I buried a chicken from the supermarket which is probably filled with antibiotics etc. Or am I wrong?

[@joriwilkinson]

I planted an apple tree in winter with a chicken (that died of natural causes) and it grew almost 20 apples the first year. I had to take them off when they were small so they wouldn’t break the branches

[@RenewedRS]

​@phoebeel why would a supermarket chicken be any different

[@runningwarrior5468]

This guy is the Ryan Hall Y'all of trees. Awesome!

[@justinwest4923]

I'm so glad you made a followup! The original was the first video of yours' that I ever saw, suggested to me because I had been watching videos about tree care. More recently, I discovered Daniel's own channel independently, but for the same reason. Looking forward to the videos on planting and root collar maintenance!

[@zanecrofts7085]

You can store parts those branches as scion wood to graft onto rootstocks. Also as an arborist myself I encourage people not be afraid large growing rootstocks you can just prune them keep them under control and they have better bigger root systems. Important thing is rootstocks match your soil type

[@semiprolific774]

What education and training did you receive before becoming an arborist?

[@zanecrofts7085]

@semiprolific774 I done alot self study on fruit tree pruning. Attended workshops on orchard and polyculutre agroforestry pruning. And experience at home pruning my own trees that are 7 years old now I propagated myself I years ago. I started a community food Forrest project then decided wanted take my experience further and 3 years ago started Arbourist apprenticeship and just finishing Last couple papers now be qualified. So I've got just as much if not more hands on real life experience as I do with all the academic side of arbouriculture

[@semiprolific774]

@@zanecrofts7085 cool. I’m currently a computer programmer, but have been pruning trees and plants on my property for a few years. Worked at a winery about a decade or so back and used to winter prune grapes…I just want to mess around outside and stop sitting all day

[@3075stephen]

the anvil side of your pruner will harm the bark so put it to the outside of the cut. Good video.

[@Gkrissy]

I am glad that you did the follow-up for this video. It is very helpful to learn the foundamentals because I have young fruit trees.

[@Chrysaphius86]

Hi Anne I hope your doing well and your hand has healed nicely!!

[@mcnorcan]

Great follow up video. I’m now subscribed.

[@amos616]

This is amazing! I’d love to see him do a columnar fruit tree if possible as well. Small yard so I’ve got two columnar apples and a dwarf peach 🍑

[@oby-1607]

We grow peaches commercially and everything he has stated and demonstrated is true. A very informative video for those who have questions or don't know.

[@clifc6351]

So Much Great information. The March/April winds are coming; and Ive been eying my Cherry Tree this winter thinking, I gotta trim up this tree right now! And you've posted this wonderful video. Thank You for the reinforcement of my madness. The Neighbors are gonna say "Look at that crazy guy trimming his tree in the winter!"

[@lorineschocknmyer9671]

I am looking forward to seeing the bumper crop this tree provides this summer! Learning a lot for sure.

[@roberhatube2366]

You were SO AFRAID of him trimming your tree . So glad you accepted what he was saying about trees

[@Desertphile]

Thank you. I love the Fuji apples and Old People's Faces apples here at the ranch, but I have no idea how to care for the treees.

[@macarborist]

Daniel knows his stuff! Well done. Only watched half so far but already a great video! 👌

[@deltorres2100]

So I watched y’all the first time he pruned I have a 20 cheer year old Asian pair that is abundance but it was getting too hard for me to harvest. They were so high so I this of winter I had a young man come and do a hard hard pruning on it, and every lamb was trimmed at a 45 so make sure I did see that on 45° angle and now the spring is coming the blooms are coming it’s looking good it doesn’t make me feel so bad because it was like a butcher so I feel like I will get fruit this year last year. We got 300 pounds and so I’m happy it looks good. The tree looks happy, I usually harvest in the end of July to August so we shall see but right now white flowers are all over the place and it starts to look lovely. Thanks for having him there.🌱🌱🍐

[@jenniferbassett3001]

Fabulous information Anne and Daniel 👍👍

[@Zamicol]

Great video!! Thanks for posting Anne!

[@bowtielife]

OH YEAY!!! I have been looking for this update! Thank you for posting Anne!!! Also (A D D moment) the pond looks great!

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Dude, isn’t it great?! I still can’t believe it worked!! I’ve got 5 kinds of fish on order

[@bowtielife]

@@AnneofAllTrades I can’t imagine kicking back and fishing on my own property after a day of hard homesteading. THAT’S AWESOME!😎

[@TimPiggott]

One of the best explanations I've seen. Thank you both ❤

[@Cody_Ramer]

Great! Looking forward to the planting video as i have fruit trees coming in a month and a half or two.

[@luluhu7574]

So informative and this lady is fabulous. Thanks!

[@kirstypollock6811]

Awesome video! I have 3 pear trees, and 6-7 apple trees to deal with (plus a few plum trees several super old non-dwarf ones that are a lost cause, but I'm a good climber😂). I got less than halfway last winter, then I got sick and it was spring and too late. Good call on the eye protection. I'm paranoid now about that as I've had LASIK, so my eyes are even more vulnerable if injured. I got some awesome cool looking wraparound safety glasses that I also wear on windy days and cycling. Bonus!

[@rhuarimacleod4862]

Great video thanks

[@melissaoleary8196]

For some reason I can watch videos or read about pruning trees and once I'm out in the field, I look at my tree, pruners in hand, branches everywhere and I'm like whaaat... am I doing? I think I have a tree pruning learning disability.

[@jacobhicks7959]

Forester here, look, decide, cut gotta just do it

[@_Merica_USA]

Another Great Video 👍 Great content, keep up the great work!

[@roxannekath929]

Good information! I’m in the PNW and will be finishing my pruning very soon!

[@AshInTrees]

Daniel is the man. I love these videos.

[@yellowmuginc]

Thank you for sharing these invaluable tips, I absolutely love trees and the bushes on our property. We've received good advice and bad advice and all of this knowledge will help for a better plan

[@VanessasVarietyVenue]

I am a new subscriber and i just bought several fruit tree and was concerned about the growth so thanks this helps alot

[@enjoythevibez5605]

i've been guilty of lion tailing ,but i've not learned different before today, thank you both

[@kirstypollock6811]

Yeah, me too. ALL my neighbours have fruit trees and they all said that was the way. I should have known better because I was getting nice easy to reach apples from the small branches... Oh well, now I know!

[@TaylorParnell]

ALWAYS GIVING US SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@2300Kenzie]

I once got a splinter on the underside of my eyelid while pruning a large tree. Fortunately I went to an optometrist friend who figured it out quickly and used an instrument he made to pull it out. He said that had I gone to the ER, they would have likely assumed it was gone and the eye was just still irritated. I then used safety glasses that were contoured a little closer.

[@astatine0085]

And you can get a fruit picker pole. The work great

[@kirstypollock6811]

Yeah, I have 2, one goes to 3m. And a cropper on a 2m pole. But I was always really good at climbing trees so I do that too :-).

[@BlaBlaBlaInDaHouse]

Good video! The guy definitely knows what he's talking about

[@ForestsEdge]

Thank you for this! I’m getting ready to prune my fruit trees before I miss my winter window and this video provided more information that I can use to change my strategy pruning. I might even consider looking for an arborist in NC that can help assess my tree situation.

[@dhansonranch]

Very informative. Thank you for this. Looking forward to the planting video as there is a lot of conflicting information out there.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

So excited about it! We’ll hopefully clear all that conflict up ;)

[@redslither6551]

excited for the next video on planting fruit trees! ^-^

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Us too!

[@aliciabuddy4690]

I cannot wait to see your summer pruning part 3 video. Summe ris sooo far away...

[@dpmeyer4867]

Thanks

[@omnisegoastrum]

Great video, it would be interesting if you could plant 2 more fast growing peach trees and leave one to do its own thing with zero maintenance and then keep the other one regularly pruned and maintained. Chickens buried under both for good measure😂

[@mihow888]

Battery chainsaw and cow manure paste to paint the cuts 🤙

[@leslubiesdetienne]

Awesome thank you! The dead chicken probably helped indeed!

[@stevedando7226]

I have no trees but ❤ video

[@danpozzi3307]

I no matter how well, or even if you didn’t print at all, fruit production depends on the weather. Storms during bloom will wash off the flowers and our little honey bee buddies won’t be out pollinating . If your tree is blooming and we get storms, that tree is not gonna have as much fruit, bottom line

[@johnjude2685]

This is a rerun belief I've seen this several times, but it is a great video. I've 5 apples and have been caring for 3 years but have improved thanks Yes a rerun

[@justinwest4923]

It's not a rerun; it's a followup to a previous video from this past summer.

[@MyFocusVaries]

Trees require summer and winter pruning. This is the winter pruning of the tree we saw summer pruned earlier.

[@davidneel8327]

For removing steel fence posts or wooden fence get yourself a farmer's jack. Basically, an old-style car jack.

[@beam5037]

Nice copper mug.

[@gracewoods5322]

Ok so how do I get my peaches to ripeness without losing them to pests and mildew? Guild? Neem? I've heard the woes of hobby farmers saying not to plant peaches but my kids begged (by way of stuffing seeds everywhere and sprouting several trees that needed to be transplanted😂)...so here we are.

[@deltorres2100]

Do it do it ..a hard pruning will keep the tree living longer.. So my 22 year old parent treat I planted as a just a young little 3 gallon pot. I planned the day after I buried my mother and they told me he would take 5 to 7 years to fruit and it did and we cared for it and and it’s actually Not far from my house like it’s in the grass line of the house so it’s not on the other side of the sidewalk it’s in the front and I always love it because it gives great shade. I do fight the black Crowes but it’s been good and we had pruned it but not a hard pruning so I’m happy I was devastated but I knew I had to do it and we did a hard pruning and it’s perfect nowand I don’t know if I’m going to do a summer pruning because here in Texas we have so many bugs and I’m worried that bug will get inside my tree disease damage

[@dragonsoul48sds45]

Wish I saw this a few days ago when I did my pruning lol

[@latauarobison6521]

Could you guide me to fungus prevention and fertility snd. Calcium maintenance. Tips for fruiting.

[@pondholloworchards]

I would love to see a 80 ft tall peach tree

[@alunjones2550]

It might sound daft but bonsai artists probably give some of the best advice on tree pruning. I use bonsai principles to all my tree/shrub pruning in my garden (as well as all my bonsai).....

[@AnneofAllTrades]

So do I :)

[@SoyNSuds]

The stake is still there :-)

[@cathyhuddle1769]

Wanting dwarf fruit trees and such great information

[@bijou737]

Great video on pruning, which I am trying to learn. Thanks! (Where did this guy learn to prune?)

[@deltorres2100]

Before I made the decision to do a hard pruning on the pear tree, I watched so many videos.,

[@WalterRiggs]

I’m about to plant some orange trees. hurry with the next video! :)

[@enyab1687]

These videos really helped with my liberty apple. Unfortunately, I'm in zone 6b and we're under knee deep snow, so it'll be a bit longer before I can do any pruning. Probably best to wait until spring anyway.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

actually, it’s really best to do heavy pruning when the tree is dormant during winter months, before the tree starts putting energy into budding out, so now is the time!

[@enyab1687]

@@AnneofAllTrades what's one more shoveled path? Thanks!

[@davidneel8327]

Girdling of trees is a method used by pioneers to kill trees to provide firewood or lumber. They would do it in the fall after all the sap has drained to the roots and harvest in the spring.

[@jennifergarcia2237]

Winner, winner peach tree got a chicken dinner

[@AnneofAllTrades]

😂😂😂

[@antonomaseapophasis5142]

9:32 …an I’ll just pop in here When did you pop out?

[@iwatchthistuf]

you need a root stock tree to graise the rootts with then graft on to the peach cuttings

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Stay tuned for our propagation video ;)

[@stevedando7226]

How about how to sharpen pruners

[@kirstypollock6811]

Oh god yes! I got a sharpening tool after seeing another video but I can't seem to make it work...

[@davidneel8327]

When I lived in Florida, they would trim the trees before hurricane season.

[@novastar369]

When it comes to the propagating just throw it in a pot to slow down the growth or dig up some of the roots for grafting.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Stay tuned for our propagation video coming this fall! We’ll go in depth into air layering, propagating cuttings and picking the right trees/species to do so. We intentionally DID NOT show that in this video, because we wouldn’t want to directly root these particular cuttings from these particular trees. Cuttings from grafted dwarf trees like these wouldn’t make for the kind of fruit trees we actually want unless we were to graft them to other dwarf root stock. Also, cuttings that are simply rooted will make perfect clones of the species of whatever was originally grafted onto the original dwarf rootstock they came from, so directly rooted cuttings from these specific trees would, more likely than not, produce an unmanageably tall tree unsuited for safe/efficient fruit picking. Without a diversity of species/variety of trees, orchards are far more prone to devastating plights of pests and diseases, because if one tree is affected, it’s highly likely all the other trees of the same species will also be affected, and that danger is only amplified if you’ve got cloned trees. If a pest/fungus/disease settles into a monocrop orchard (or worse, an orchard of cloned trees), it will have a veritable buffet of susceptible plants at it’s disposal, and will multiply and get out of hand quickly. As an organic farmer, because we don’t use pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, we want as many different species of trees from as many different sources as possible in our orchard, because this way, if a certain pest or disease likes one variety of tree but not another, then we only lose the crop/ or a single tree rather than the entire orchard.

[@itpatriot]

I would love Daniel’s contact info. We are in the Nashville area and would love to contact him!

[@FMNsocial]

I'm very curious how to prune combination trees, which have multiple varieties grafted onto a single rootstock!

[@AnneofAllTrades]

The same way! I’ve got many trees like that here.

[@FMNsocial]

@@AnneofAllTrades that's interesting thanks! Mine are still very young with only like one branch of each type so if I trimmed them, I worry they'd spread in the wrong directions 😳🤪

[@rprastein]

Do you have a link to the video about what to do about the tree planted too deep? I think that's what happened to our peach tree (all of the fruit trees in our yard were planted a year or two before I bought the house). Most of the young tree died within our first year here, apparently with some sort of beetle infestation, leaving only one living branch. The tree was planted in a locally low spot in the yard and I could see water wasn't draining well around it, so instead of building soil up into a mound at the base, I basically dug out a circle some four feet out, and sloped the soil from the base of the tree to the perimeter of the circle. The tree did better the following several years, although the squirrels have been eating all of the fruit. Now my husband has mounded soil up at the base of the tree again, which I think may be a mistake. Just wondering whether I did right, and whether I should undo my husband's handiwork or just leave it alone, or if there is anything else we can do to help this poor tree.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

We dug it up and replanted it (that is the tree we are doing root surgery on at the end of the video). If I were you I would immediately unmound the dirt around your tree and continue to redirect the water. That is what I would have done as well. You don’t even have to fully uproot it like we did with this tree, either, you can carefully excavate the soil away from the trunk of the tree until you get down to the top of the root system. Then I’d just add some leaf mulch and call it a day.

[@rprastein]

Thanks, @@AnneofAllTrades . I'm going out in the yard tomorrow to move an Acanthus mollis (Bear's Breeches) plant, so I'll take care of this while I'm out there.

[@DawnaRo]

I wonder if I can do this to my cheerry tree that insists on growing UP?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Absolutely would do.

[@GibClark]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@fleurettewoods6080]

Is this good for all fruit trees, or only peaches?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Most fruit trees- check out this other primer for more tree species specific tips: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmfLiJRpo91qr9Esi=wh0AGTpLIzxgLdVY

[@SuperRiverRat1]

You could have pulled that stake out easily if you’d only put the bloody cup down! 😂

[@AnneofAllTrades]

😂 NEVER

[@Mael01369]

Safety first because getting maimed is the worst

[@rawfoodwriter]

Picking trees 😂

[@fffbti]

What about the rule of only pruning 1/3 of the tree at any one pruning?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

That’s why we pruned it this summer first, to see how it would respond/react to pruning so we could prune accordingly this winter ;) kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmfLiJRpo91qr9Esi=wh0AGTpLIzxgLdVY

[@astatine0085]

But if we allow natural structure won’t the tree be stronger?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

You’d think, but I’d invite you to walk through the woods behind my house and see all the trees that have been ruined by wind, the weight of snow and ice, and general lack of pruning. Nature does take care of itself, but not nearly in as efficient or long lasting as we homesteaders might like from the trees we intentionally plant.

[@kirstypollock6811]

In a forest, I guess the cycle of life works fine with random falling trees to open up light for others to grow, and provide dead wood for fungus etc to break down to feed the trees. But when we only have a few trees, our stakes are higher if we lose a few. I've lost one cherry, probably lose another plus 2 or 3 apple trees because of previous (and frankly my own) neglect. Some are really old though!

[@ABlueDahlia]

Where's the fruit tree planting video?

[@Kay-xi9kv]

I thought you weren’t supposed to prune in the rain?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Sometimes you work when the work needs doing ;)